A Squids M1008 Plan/Build

tim292stro said:

Don't know about others, but I'm going away from GM power on my rig - I do know that SS member "cucvnut" received the 454 out of my donor truck, probably shoot him an email to find out what his plans are. He also has a build thread here that he picks at.

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I second that.. I know that 6.2&6.5 flywheel and clutchs parts interchange with the BB as well most ancillary equip. ie raditator ect..

southdave said:

I second that.. I know that 6.2&6.5 flywheel and clutch parts interchange with the BB as well most ancillary equip. i.e. radiator etc..

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What I meant by going away from GM power, is that I'm going Cummins, donor truck came with a BB 454 V8 gasser in front of a three-speed - and got just a hair over 7MPG on the 300 mile recovery trip. My 40' Gillig transit bus got 8MPG on it's recovery from Oregon, it weighs in over 20klbs empty and mostly dry, and has the aerodynamics of a small house. With a properly tuned and geared 6BT, I'm hoping to get more like 20+MPG in a 1-ton crew-cab dually, similar to what I'm getting in my 2-seat 4-banger Toyota pickup now (what I'm replacing).

I think OP is just going for "easy" to get up and running after diesel engine fail, so that means staying GM as a power-plant. I'm just another yahoo that's doing a Cummins in a square-body, so I don't have much to add to his situation. But cucvnut might, since he got my old engine.

tim292stro said:

What I meant by going away from GM power, is that I'm going Cummins, donor truck came with a BB 454 V8 gasser in front of a three-speed - and got just a hair over 7MPG on the 300 mile recovery trip. My 40' Gillig transit bus got 8MPG on it's recovery from Oregon, it weighs in over 20klbs empty and mostly dry, and has the aerodynamics of a small house. With a properly tuned and geared 6BT, I'm hoping to get more like 20+MPG in a 1-ton crew-cab dually, similar to what I'm getting in my 2-seat 4-banger Toyota pickup now (what I'm replacing).

I think OP is just going for "easy" to get up and running after diesel engine fail, so that means staying GM as a power-plant. I'm just another yahoo that's doing a Cummins in a square-body, so I don't have much to add to his situation. But cucvnut might, since he got my old engine.

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I am definitely going for cheap, easy and fast. With the 6.2 I was getting close to 22mpg, I am figuring with the 454 I will get between 6 to 8 mpg... 8 being the high side. This truck will basically be my winter truck/race car hauler. I would love to find a 6BT and put it in. ****, if I could find a 4BT I'd run that!

Squidley
Without looking back though the thread, are using the 6.2 th 400, if so I belive they are set up internally different from 454.. may and issue maybe not. Curious way the departure away for the 6.2?

And I would expect that considering the differences in the power bands - the shift points are probably totally different too. The transmission will probably need a whole different valve body on the bottom end. Also, you might need to change your final drive ratio to account for the higher power band point of a gasser.

southdave said:

Squidley
Without looking back though the thread, are using the 6.2 th 400, if so I belive they are set up internally different from 454.. may and issue maybe not. Curious way the departure away for the 6.2?

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Number 2 cylinder was split/vertical cracks in the cylinder.

tim292stro said:

And I would expect that considering the differences in the power bands - the shift points are probably totally different too. The transmission will probably need a whole different valve body on the bottom end. Also, you might need to change your final drive ratio to account for the higher power band point of a gasser.​

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You can adjust the shift points by the modulator. No need to change valve body, torque converter or drive ratio... 8" lift with 40" tires and 4.56 gears... 5.13's/5.38's would be good but I would like to drive it on the rod once in a while. When I do the double t-case I may go with higher gears to make it a little more road friendly. Lol​

I was wondering who has done the 454 swap and what wires did you use... I am half tempted to completely gut/rewire the engine bay, ignition and lights.

Might be easier to unbolt the harnes from fuse box and swap out one from small block

southdave said:

Might be easier to unbolt the harnes from fuse box and swap out one from small block

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I think you're right, plus our scrap yard up here has a lot of mid 80's trucks. I might tinker with current harness to see what's what... a snip here a snip there and it may just work.

Only difference inside the transmissions is the torque converter. Different stall speeds.

The 6.2L diesel power steering pump doesn't come close to lining up on the 454. Thankfully the 454 came with a pump that had a hydro-boost set up. I had to purcase a power steering pump pulley puller (say that 5x fast)... I removed the pulleys and brackets, swapped the brackets and bingo. Though, to keep it simple I will be putting the 454 pulleys on the 6.2L pump so that I can run 2 v-belts that are the same size. I like simplicity! I think I will attempt to get my hands dirty with the wiring harness.

With the 8" lift my rear axle was offset approximately 4" rear/forward depending on how you put the springs. This didn't look right so I decided to cut off the front spring mounts in the rear and move them backwards 3". Thinking 2.5" would've been perfect but, it is what it is. This thing (truck) will eventually get cut up and caged after a few more winter salt baths. I had to grind the perch welds and set my pinion angle. I set it at 5*, the tranny output was at 3* so I lowered it to match. My rear driveshaft will measure 55" center to center. Should have some pics tomorrow. Next, resetting the rear gears. I wasn't too happy with the pattern I had so I picked up some shims. I should be able to dial it and get some peace of mind. Still have to drain the tank, hook up the lines and finish the wiring under the hood and she will be ready for the test run.

Squid in a CUCV said:

With the 8" lift my rear axle was offset approximately 4" rear/forward depending on how you put the springs. This didn't look right so I decided to cut off the front front spring mounts and move them backwards 3". Thinking 2.5" would've been perfect but, it is what it is. This thing will eventually get cut up and caged after a few more winter salt balths. I had to grind the perch welds and set my pinion angle. I set it at 5*, the tranny output was at 3* so I lowered it to match. My rear driveshaft will measure 55" center to center. Should have some pics tomorrow. Next, resetting the rear gears. I wasn't too happy with the pattern I got time so I picked up some shims so I should be able to dial it and get some peace of mind. Gotta drain the tank, hook up the lines and finish the wiring under the hood and she will be ready for the test run.

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Hey Squid; I'm no automotive engineer, but wondering if these are engineering terms, or just your off-hand description:

- not picturing what this would look like

Is "this thing" you refer to the spring mounts?

I'm going out on a limb but I'm guessing the "this thing" is the whole truck - sounds like he's fixin' to turn it into a full trail buggy, full cage, chopped or removed: fenders, hood, portions of the bed...

tim292stro said:

I'm going out on a limb but I'm guessing the "this thing" is the whole truck - sounds like he's fixin' to turn it into a full trail buggy, full cage, chopped or removed: fenders, hood, portions of the bed...

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Yes, "this thing" being the object of discussion is "the truck". lol. After a few more salt baths, "this thing" will be receiving a trim in the fender area. It will have rock gaurds, HD custom bumpers, roll cage etc. The 454 will be bored and stroked as I will try to get "her" up to 600hp when all is said and done.... a few years done the road.

$300 for both driveshafts being re-tubed not to bad IMO.

The wiring is almost complete, I just have to make it look presentable. It was actually really simple.... Remove the glow plug relay, and the feeds going into the cab for the glow plug card and the radio and you are left with 8 or 9 wires that can be cut and capped off. Once I get things presentable I will snap a pic. I will order my exhaust tomorrow and I should have this thing on the road this weekend!

Need electrical help. All lights work as they should except the right turn signals. When I try them they turn the hazards on and when I pull the light switch the stop blinking but stay illuminated. I traced, checked and replaced, bulbs, light switch, combination switch and instrument cluster. What am I missing?

Really sounds like a floating ground somewhere - I had a very similar effect on the Civilian C30 I bought. With a bad/weak/missing ground the power will back feed in ways you don't expect. Check the right side lighting grounds by the fixtures - it only takes bad apple one to make it fail like this.

[EDIT:] If GM added diodes to each fixture, it would prevent back-feeding and make it stupid simple to figure out which circuits was at fault, but would cost them about $3 a truck in volume... [/EDIT]